Frank J. Bailey was appointed on January 30, 2009 and served as Chief Judge from 2010 to 2014.  He has also served as an appellate judge on the First Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. He received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service (BSFS in economics) in 1977 and his JD from Suffolk University in 1980.  Judge Bailey retired from judicial service on June 1, 2022.

Judge Bailey served as judicial law clerk to the Honorable Herbert P. Wilkins of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 1980-81. He worked as an associate at the Boston office of Sullivan & Worcester LLP, where he practiced in the litigation and corporate restructuring departments before spending twenty-two years as a partner at the firm of Sherin and Lodgen LLP, where he served as the Chairman of the Litigation Department and as a member of the management committee. He often represented clients in the financial services, medical device, pharmaceutical and technology areas.

In June 2022, after his retirement, Judge Bailey joined what is currently known as the Pioneer New England Legal Foundation as its inaugural president.  Pioneer NELF is a public interest law firm that protects education choice, free enterprise, and government transparency. In most cases, Pioneer NELF engages in constitutional challenges to governmental overreach.  

Judge Bailey was elected by his peers to serve as the President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (“NCBJ”). Nearly 100 years old, the NCBJ is the voluntary professional association of federal bankruptcy judges.  He has been active in leadership positions in the American Bar Association, including as the Judicial Member at Large on the ABA Board of Governors and as a member of the ABA Executive Committee. Judge Bailey served as the Chair of the National Conference of Federal Trial Judges, an ABA entity that includes over 300 federal judges.  He is the chair elect of the ABA Judicial Division which includes over 4,000 state and federal judges.

Judge Bailey has testified before Congress on matters affecting the federal judiciary, including venue reform and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Judge Bailey served on the adjunct faculty at Boston University School of Law, Suffolk University Law School (Boston) and New England Law School. He was the Visiting Scholar at the University of Galway Law School (Ireland) in the Spring of 2025. He has been active in international judicial training and legal education, including in Argentina, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine.

Judge Bailey is married to Susan L. Cahill, M.D., FACS, and has two adult sons